Very usable camera, without serious flaws

Much fun is involved using the X-5, definitely more than its serious dSLR-like looks might suggest. X-5 is fast and responsive, so very smooth that you never really need to wait for it. Lens range is impressive and incredibly usable even at both extreme range limits. Shake reduction (SR) is very well implemented and freehand shots are possible in the supertele range. On the other hand, SR helps to keep ISO & noise down while still being able to catch a blur free shot. Tilting 3" LCD-screen ads much usability and the provided viewfinder is a nice bonus. Particularly in bright sunlight that viewfinder comes handy.

Colors are well balanced out of the box, with minor tweaking you can adjust the image look to match your taste. Video capture is impressive with a decent latitude for editing. Here again the SR stands out! Nice touch is the green button which by default is your "go home" button in case you got lost somewhere in the various settings. While you become more advanced you can assign custom functions to the 4-way button array, which are called by the fn-button (previously being the green button). These can be separately tailor made for still photos and video.

X-5 is suitable for the novice user and travel shooter and also for somebody who likes to use the extensive lens range in a relatively compact package.